Doll having a body motion enabling it to crawl



s. ROBBINS 3,548,537

DOLL HAVING A BODY MOTION ENABLNG IT TO CRAWL Dec. 22, QYO

3 Sheets-Sheet l Original Filed Oct. 1.1, 1967 s. ROBBINS 3,548,537

DOLL HAVING A BODY MOTION ENABLING IT TO CRAWL Original Filed Oct. 4,1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 22, 1970 s. RoBBlNs 3,548,53?

DOLL HAVING A BODY MOTION ENABLING IT TO CRAWL Dec. 22, 1970 3Sheets-Sheet i5 Original Filed Oct. 4, 1967 United States Patent O DOLLHAVING A BODY MOTION ENABLING IT TO CRAWL Saul Robbins, 35 Mountain Way,West Orange, NJ. 07052 Continuation of application Ser. No. 672,782,Oct. 4, 1967. This application Oct. 13, 1969, Ser. No. 866,158 Int. Cl.A63h 13/00 U.S. Cl. 46--150 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A dollis provided having interconnected upper and lower body sections and withits limbs disposed in a crawling position. The interconnection betweenthe portions is articulated and has a motor and associated linkage, sothat the body sections move relative to one another in lissajous motion.This motion causes the doll to crawl in a realistic manner.

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 672,782,filed Oct. 4, 1967, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a type ofmotor-actuated doll which will crawl along the iioor in a realisticmanner. In particular, it relates to a doll in which the upper and lowersections of the doll move relative to one another with a particular kindof motion that results in a crawling action.

So far as I am aware, dolls of this type are new. Although numerousdolls have been made that crawl, none do so as simply and realisticallyas mine. Prior ones have used such things as wheels beneath the doll, orcomplicated mechanical devices to move the legs. Usually such methodsalso mean that the doll cannot well be used other than for crawling.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION My doll operates by having threesections: an upper body section, a lower body section, and a middle orpower section interconnecting the two and causing the necessaryarticulated, relative motion 4between the upper and lower sections.

The upper body section is the portion of the doll from the chest up. Itincludes the shoulders, head, and arms. The arms are held in the usualcrawling position of a baby and when the doll crawls, do not moverelative to the upper body sections.

The lower body section is the portion of the doll from the waist down.It includes the hips and legs. The legs are held in the usual crawlingposition of a baby and when the doll crawls, do not move relative to thelower body section.

The middle power section is located about where the abdomen would be andconnects the articulated motion of the upper and lower sections, givingthem articulated motion. The connection to each is a pivotal one withpositive control of the pivoted motion through motoractuated linkages.The connection between the middle and upper sections pivots about avertical axis; that between the middle and lower sections about alongitudinal axis passing through the upper end of a pivot shaft.

The motor and associated linkages cause oscillatory motion about eachaxis. This can be best visualized by considering that the doll is held'off from the floor by the middle section while the motor is operating.The upper body section would be seen to move from side to side, and thelower body section would be seen to twist back and forth about alongitudinal axis as indicated in FIG. 5.

If, on the other hand, the doll was held by the upper body portion whileoperated, both of these motions, which are transverse to one another,would be seen in the resultant motion of the lower body section. Being acombination of the two motions, the motions of the hips appears morecomplex and thus appears like a ligure 8 motion.

A combination such as this of two mutually perpendicular, simpleoscillatory motions, is sometimes referred to as lissajous motion. Inthe preferred form of my invention the rate of oscillation of the uppersection is the same as that of the lower section.

The center of gravity of my doll is such that more of the weight is onthe hands than is on the knees. Also preferably there is greaterfrictional contact between the knees and the oor than there is betweenthe hands and the floor (knees have greater contact surface area).Consequently, the movement by these motions causes the lower section tomove, as above described, and the upper section to move but little, whenthe doll is on the floor. The result is that the motion of the lowersection causes lirst one and then the other of the knees of the doll tobe slightly lifted and to move forward. The doll then crawls forward ina realistic manner.

As mentioned above, the arms and legs have means by which they are fixedrelative to their respective body sections so they can be positivelyheld against movement while the doll is crawling. This is accomplishedby having normally movable arms and legs with a detent or other stopmechanism to hold them in their crawling positions. Thus, when not usedfor crawling, the doll may assume other postures.

THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a side or elevational view of the doll (withthe lower portions of the legs omitted). It is partially cut away, inthe middle section, to show the motor and the linkages that drive theupper and lower sections. The head is shown in two different positions;

FIGURE 2 is a view from underneath the doll, and is a section taken online 2 2 of FIGURE 1. Again the middle section is partially exposed toshow the linkage;

FIGURE 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of FIG- URE l, looking forward.It shows a portion of the interconnection between the middle and lowersections;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of FIG. l, looking backward. Itshows a portion of the interconnection between the middle and uppersections;

FIG. 5 is another view, similar to FIG. 3, and illustrating motions ofthe lower section of the doll about one axis, which is a longitudinalaxis located near the upper end of the lower pivot member; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective View of the lower body section of the doll. Itillustrates, with arrows, the hip motion that results from the action ofthe motor and associated linkages.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. l shows three interconnectedsections which form the doll. Further details are shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4and 5. There is the upper body section 1, the middle power section 2,and the lower body section 3.

Upper body section 3 include shoulders 6, head 7, arms `8, and hands 9.Ille dolls head may be moved by a child into various positions about auniversal ball and socket neck joint 10. The lower body section 3includes hips 14, legs 15, and knees 16. When the doll is operating inits crawling position, the arms 8 and hands 9 are temporarily xed inposition relative to upper section 1, and the legs 15 and knees 16 arefixed relative to lower section3.

Since sections 1 and 3 must be spaced from one another to allow forrelative movement, the gap between them may be covered with an elasticmaterial 4, such as polyurethane foam.

When in the crawling position, as shown in FIG. 1, hands 9 and knees 16rest on floor 12. Preferably, the knees have greater frictional contactwith the floor than do the hands. This can, if desired, be achieved byhaving the knees have greater floor Contact area than the hands.

The middle section 2 is the driving or power section. It includes amotor mounted in a motor bracket 21 and gear trains and linkages toprovide the desired oscillatory motions above-described. Batteries forthe motor and a switch are not shown. They may be located either insidethe doll or outside and connected to the doll by control wires. Thebatteries and switch are not part of my invention as such.

Motor 20 is connected to and operates a speed-reducing gear train 23.This gear train 23 includes a pair of rotatable shafts 17 and 18extending across between opposite flanges of the motor bracket 21. Asmall pinion 22 on the shaft of the motor 20 drives a large gear freelyrotatable on the shaft 17 with a small intermediate gear which in turndrives a large gear on the shaft 18 having another small gear driving acrank gear 19 at the output of the train. This crank gear 19 is mountedon the shaft 17, with this gear carrying an eccentrically located crankpin driving a connecting rod crank 24. The opposite ends 28 and 29 ofthe connecting rod 24 are pivotally connected to extending arms 30 and31, respectively, of pivot members 32 and 33, respectively.

Pivot member 32 is pivotally mounted at point 41 near its upper end 38in the upper, rearward portion of a frame 27 to which the motor bracket21 is secured. This frame 27 forms the main frame of the middle or powersection of the dolls body. The upper end 38 of the pivot member 32 isattached in positive driving relationship to a generally U-shapedbracket 40 firmly secured to the inside of lower body section 3 formoving this lower body section relative to the middle section. The lowerend 42 of pivot member 32 is also positively attached to the lowerportion of bracket 40. This lower end 42 is not attached to the frame27, but is free to move back and forth within a slot 43 (FIGS. 3 and 5)of the frame 27. This motion is oscillatory in a plane transverse to thebody of the doll.

Pivot member 33 is pivotally mounted at both its upper and lower ends 34and 35, respectively, in the main frame 27. The ends 34 and 35 arepositively attached to another generally U-shaped bracket 39 which isfirmly secured to the inside of the upper body section 1 to move theupper body section.

If desired, the doll may be made so that the arms and legs are movable,allowing the doll to be used for other than crawling. This isaccomplished by having the arms and legs pivotally mounted, as seen mostclearly in FIGS. 3 and 4. A detent 46 on the body and a correspondingnotch 45 (shown, by way of example, in FIG. 2) on the respective limbmay be used to hold the limb in the crawling position. If these are madeof a soft, plastic material, similar to the material of which the dollis made, the notch and detent may be easily engaged and disengaged withfinger pressure.

When the doll is placed on the floor in crawling position and motor 20is operated, the doll will crawl.

Motor 20, through gear train 23, will rotate the eccentric crank pin 25to move it about in a circular path. This pin 25 in turn, drives theconnecting rod 24 with the motion indicated in FIG. 2. This connectingrod motion is transmitted by the ends 28 and 29 of rod 24 to pivots 32and 33, respectively. This drive will cause the upper section 1 to movein a swinging motion from side to side about the axis of pivot 33relative to middle section 2. Note the two positions of upper section 1and of crank pin 25 shown in FIG. 2. This motion of the connecting rod24 also causes the lower section 3 to twist and turn back and forthabout a longitudinal axis whose center is indicated at 47. Note the twopositions of the lower body section shown in FIG. 5 and compare themwith FIG. 3.

The resultant body motion is a combination of simple oscillatory motionsabout two perpendicular axes and, since the motions are combined,produces what has been referred to above as a lissajous motion. Thenature of this resulting motion is generally shown in FIG. 6. The dollships 14 raise and move outwardly and forwardly, rst on one side and thenon the other in a crawling action.

The dolls legs 15 are xed relative to its hips 15 during crawling, sothe lissajous motion causes tirst one leg (and knee 16) and then theother to be lifted slightly and moved forward. A realistic crawlingeffect is created, and the doll actually moves forward along the floor.If the center of gravity of the doll is nearer the hands 9 than the knee16, the crawling is improved.

A description of the preferred embodiment of my invention has lbeengiven. As can be seen by those skilled in the art, various changes maybe made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A crawling toy comprising a toy body formed of upper and lower bodysections separated at the torso of the toy body, said body sectionsjointly defining the toy body, each of said sections being provided withfixedly secured limbs oriented in a crawling position of the toy, meansfor positively preventing movement of said limbs relative to theirrespective body sections, means interconnecting said upper and lowerseparated body sections to form a substantially contiguous toy body withpredetermined articulated lissajous-like relative movements between saidb'ody sections, said interconnecting means comprising a power sectionincluding a motor and means for operatively coupling the motor to saidbody sections to impart torso-located articulation to the toy body, saidtorso-located articulation providing said lissajous-like motion toobtain crawling motion of the entire toy body when released upon asurface.

2. A crawling doll including an upper body section and a lower bodysection, limbs fixedly secured to respective ones of said sections,means for positively holding said limbs oriented in a crawling positionof the toy, means interconnecting said sections for articulate motionsof said sections relative to one another, said interconnecting meansincluding a motor and linkages coupling the motor to said sections forrelative motion therebetween in a figure eight lissajous pattern, saidupper body section moving slightly from side to side and said lower bodysection having its sides moving alternately aupward and forward wherebysaid doll will crawl when placed on a surface.

3. A crawling doll including an upper body section with arms fixedlysecured thereon, a lower body section with legs fixedly secured thereon,means for positively holding said arms and legs oriented in a crawlingposition of the toy, and interconnecting means comprising a powersection, said power section located between said upper and lower bodysections and pivotally interconnected with each of said sections toprovide movement of said upper and lower sections relative to said powersection, said power section'including driving means and a linkage driventhereby, said linkage being connected to said upper and lower sectionsto move said upper and lower sections in osci'latory motions relative tosaid power section, the planes of motion of the respective upper andlower sections being substantially perpendicular to one another, wherebythe motion of said lower section relative to said upper section is acombination of the respective separate oscillatory motions of saidsections and said combined motion causes said doll to crawl when placedon a surface.

4. The crawling doll as claimed in claim 3 in which said arms arepivotally secured to said upper section and said legs are pivotallysecured to said lower section for child manipulation of the limbs ofsaid doll, and said holding means including detent means associated withsaid arms 6 and legs to secure the same against pivotal movement2,978,834 4/ 1958 Gardel et al. 46-149 relative to their respectivelyconnected upper and lower 2,978,835 4/ 1958 Gardel etal. 46-149 bodysections during operation of said drive means. r 3,229,421 1/ 1966Ostrander 46-247 5. The crawling doll as claimed in claim 3 wherein saidFOREIGN PATENTS power section is connected to said upper body sectionwith 5 a pivot held in stationary relationship relative to said 63612604/1950 Great Bumm- Pper body Secton F. BARRY SHAY, Primary ExaminerReferences Cited Us. CL XR. UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 46 161 1,764,3306/1930 Marx 46-150 2,761,243 9/1956 Baggott E 46-149

